Geocaching in Anoka, Minnesota

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Geocaching is an outdoor adventure activity where participants use handheld GPS units and coordinates to hide and seek hidden caches in locations that are listed on the geocaching website (geocaching.com). The county of Anoka, Minnesota, located just to the north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, has caching regulations in place for hiding and seeking geocaches. Geocaching gives area residents and visitors the opportunity to explore local parks and find small treasures.

Goecaching Locations

The Anoka County Parks and Recreation Department has dedicated six of the county's parks as approved geocaching areas. At the time of publication, geocaches are permitted in designated sections of the 1,600-acre Bunker Hills Regional Park; the 446-acre Coon River Regional park; the 270-acre Lake George Regional Park; the 5,500-acre Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Reserve; the 139-acre Riverfront Regional Park; and the 434-acre Rum River Central Regional Park. Geocaches are also hidden, with permission, at other locations in the county, such as at local businesses, and a list of caches is searchable by city or zip code on the official geocaching website.

Hiding a Geocache in Anoka Parks

Anoka County's Parks and Recreation Department has specific guidelines in place for those planning on hiding a cache at a county park. All geocaches hidden in a county park must be registered and approved by the department, hidden at least 1/4 mile from all other caches, within 1/10 of a mile of a currently maintained trail and must be accessible from a standing position. Caches must not be buried, hidden near playgrounds, picnic areas, golf courses, water parks, campgrounds or beaches. All geocaches must be free of offensive illegal or dangerous objects and open to the public. Caches hidden in area where hunting is permitted must be deactivated between the months of October and December.

Additional Geocaching Rules

All geocaches hidden in Anoka must be hidden with approval of the land owner, notes the Geocaching.com website. Geocachers removing an object from a cache are expected to replace the item with another object of similar or greater value. At the time of publication, if you are seeking a cache in one of Anoka's County Parks, you must only hunt during normal park hours, from 6 a.m. until a half hour after sunset,

Additional Geocaching Opportunities

Additional geocaching opportunities, such as the vertical geocaching program at the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park and private geocaching programs with a naturalist are also available through the Anoka Parks and Recreation Department. The geocaching website maintains a list of geocaching meetups throughout Minnesota that may be of interest to cachers in the Anoka area. The Minnesota Geocaching Association also provides assistance to those interested in hiding and seeking geocaches in the area.

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About the Author

Based in Florida, Mandi Titus has been writing since 2002. Her articles have been published on sites such as Goodkin, Go Green Street and Living the Healthy Way. She holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Stetson University.

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